Do you want to learn the latest marketing techniques, how to
expand your business, or even how to
start
your business? If you are like the nearly one-third (31%) of business owners from
this April, 2014 Gallup poll that rely on a second job for the majority of their income this year,
you probably don’t have the time to get a formal education on the skills to
further your small business.

So what’s the easiest way to get the education you want while
still running your budding enterprise?
Massive
Open Online Courses
, or MOOCs, not only give you the flexibility to learn
at your own pace, but also cover topics at the institute level as well as courses
that use real-life examples and tutorials.

Why Use Massive
Open Online Courses
(MOOCs)?

Access to FREE, quality online
education

Learn the latest business practices
from home or office

Help employees acquire new business
skills

Continually refine your business
processes

A better understanding of new marketing
tools and concepts

Verify your business with online
certifications and degrees

MOOCs are rapidly gaining popularity across the world with
several universities offering short-term courses that include video based
sessions, interactive questions, lectures and simulators. These tools give you
access to quality, real world learning at your doorstep. For example,
Coursera has partnered with top
universities like Stanford and MIT to offer more than 400 world-class courses
for free.
Coursera Course Topics
include: Networking, Web Apps, Research and Data, Operations Management, Entrepreneurship,
Food Business, and more. With so many course options, you can find material
from educators in exactly your area of interest; but which organizations
provide the best course catalogs for business owners?

Best Online Course Providers

Stanford Online

This is your chance to get into Stanford - virtually! Stanford
University has collaborated with
OpenEdX to
provide a global learning platform. With the latest tools and the flexibility
to design courses and learning modules,
Stanford Online has created a collaborative
learning environment for those looking to study innovation and
entrepreneurship, professional development, and business management.

Highlights

Free online courses by Stanford faculty

Innovative instructional strategies,
course design, and delivery

Sharing of course material with other
universities / open-source platforms

MIT OpenCourseWare

MIT has more than 2,000 courses online in various languages.
This virtual, web-based publication encourages independent learners to expand
their knowledge and use it to face real-life business challenges.
MIT
OpenCourseWare
can truly enrich your education.

Highlights

Makes MIT’s prestigious education
available worldwide

Wide and deep variety of courses on
innumerable topics

Courses are designed to help you pave a
better path for your business through supplementary courses on Finance,
Operations, and Law etc.

iTunes U Courses

Designed by Apple in collaboration with Stanford, MIT, Harvard
and other top universities,
iTunes U courses are
customizable. The iTunes U Course Manager helps teachers manage their courses
by bringing everything to a single platform. You can access video materials,
assignments and other study materials with a tap of your iDevice. Stay
connected anytime, from anywhere.

Highlights

Immense compilation of courses from
hundreds of universities

Course customization with iTunes U
Course Manager web-based app

Easy access to materials through iPad or
iPhone

Receive push notifications on lesson
updates, posts and current assignments

Udemy

Unlike the others in this list,
Udemy
does not utilize content directly from Ivy League Universities. Instead, their
courses focus on real-world problems, addressed by real-world experts. Udemy is
unique in that it does not carry much by way of theory. Courses are related to most
any practical, applicable skill that you have ever wanted but didn’t know where
to find it.

Highlights

Courses address real-world, tangible problems

Courses are taught by tried-and-true masters
of their domains

Immense collection of courses addressing
almost every life skill

Course modules are designed for busy professionals
– small bites

Peer review mechanism ensures that the excellent
courses stand out

Many free courses as well as free
intros to paid courses (try before you buy)

If you don’t want to search each Online Course Catalog individually,
SlideRule is the eLearning
search-engine of the future. Their
new
“Learning Path” feature creates a course structure comprised of educational
material and courses pulled from many of the listed course providers. Think of
it as the “Bricolage” of the eLearning world; appropriating various works from
all over the net into a custom course for you!

Whether you are looking to expand your business acumen or need
to learn how to create your company’s first website, MOOCs help you run your
business from a well-educated perspective and give you the additional skills
you desire.